An Important Question: Is the New Mass a New Religion?

Fr. Albert Kallio is a Dominican, ordained in 1994 by Bishop Bernard Fellay. In this video he addresses a number of questions about the Mass before and after the changes by Annibale Bugnini. He explains in an easily understood way the impact of all the changes to the Mass put in place in the name of Vatican II. Many of those changes flew in the face of the wishes of the Council Fathers. Sadly, few of the Fathers objected when the destruction of the Mass went into effect. Here's how Fr. Kallio summarizes the disastrous impact:

What We Can Learn from the Bees.

Bees have been the subject of countless meditations from the saints over the generations. They are mentioned so often I believe they must have a special place in God's kingdom. And what a privilege to serve as a beekeeper for these tiny creatures of God. They teach me so much.

Yesterday my husband and I inspected our hives to make sure they all have enough room to expand. This time of year we try to prevent swarming.

 Three hives had so many bees and the boxes were so full of nectar and pollen we added a new box to each one. It made me think of the posts I've seen lately about how many people have come into the Church this year. Praise God for all the newbies (and newbees)! 

Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord.

I'm a beekeeper so when I saw this quote I had to share it.

"As it is impossible to verbally describe the sweetness of honey to one who has never tasted honey, so the goodness of God cannot be clearly communicated by way of teaching if we ourselves are not able to penetrate into the goodness of the Lord by our own experience."

+ St. Basil the Great

Random Thoughts on a Lenten Friday

• 

  Checked the bees this week. Hard at work!

  Two of my grandsons are coming today to help do Camp Kreitzer cleanup. The yard is littered with hundreds of pine cones and sticks, even thick branches that winter winds have dislodged from our numerous pine trees. And oh-my-goodness the pine needles! I rake them up occasionally and put heaps of them in the chicken yard and the coop and on the garden. It cuts down on the cost of pine chips for the coop and mulch for the garden. But no matter how much yard work I do, it always seems like drop in the bucket...or in the pool...or in the ocean. To put a spiritual outlook on it, working on my sins and faults is just like that. No matter how much I try to cultivate the garden of my soul, there is always more to do. And so often it seems I am raking up the same old same old. As I work with the boys today putting yard litter on the fire pit, I will beg God to help me make real progress this Lent placing all my sins and faults on the altar of reconciliation and begging that they be "burned and consumed in the fire of [God's] love." [Imitation of Christ]

Fall is Bee-Feeding Time to Help Hives Survive the Winter....

Honey bees fill me with wonder! These little creatures of God have a lot to teach us. I share our eight years of beekeeping experience at The View from Camp Kreitzer. Today we gave them a final fall feeding of sugar syrup. Later when it's frigid, we feed hard sugar patties if the girls need extra help.

If you've ever thought about becoming a beekeeper like the monks of the middle ages, Lucia of Fatima, and St. Gobnait, one of the patrons of bee-keepers, visit my Bee-keeper's diary at The View from Camp Kreitzer. Bee-keeping is one of the joys of life as every beekeeper knows. And they are a cure for those who believe we all "evolved" from the primordial soup. There is no way the social system of the honeybee developed one little step at a time!

Friday Morning Musings and Articles of Interest

• 

  I love working with our bees!

  I'm watching an eastern bluebird couple go in and out of the birdhouse my son-in-law built and posted for me. There is plenty of coming and going, so I suspect there are hatchlings demanding to be fed. It will be fun to watch them. I hope to see them fledge. God is so clearly revealed in His creation. The only creatures who defy Him, after the fallen angels, are we human creatures who persist in rebelling. The saddest thing is to see so many deform their reason and function at the level of feelings and passions. They scratch where it itches and live for their bellies and their genitals. What a pathetic way to live!

I'm Taking Heifer International off my Charity List!

It's funny sometimes how the Lord leads me to information. Last week I was blogging about beekeeping since we were getting our hives ready for the winter. I decided to include information about the patron saints of beekeeping. St. Valentine is one. While I was researching him and several others I came upon an article from Heifer International about St. Valentine. That intrigued me because we've supported the group in the past. Last year we included among our children's Christmas gifts a card for each saying a beehive was purchased and donated in their name for a poor family. Here's Heifer's promo for the honeybee gift:

HONEYBEES SWEETEN A FAMILY'S FINANCIAL FUTURE 

A Heifer honeybee gift donation includes a bee package, hive, box and training in beekeeping techniques. When you buy bees for a family in need, your gift:

Of Bees and Grandchildren: Taking Time Out to Make Memories

Bee babies, capped and uncapped

I'm taking a break from responding to nasty anonymous comments (I've been getting them on my post about Reagan. Goodness, can't we say something kind about someone unless he/she is a saint?)

Instead I'm focusing on something I really love that fills me with joy: beekeeping! We did our first Spring inspection this afternoon and our hives look wonderful. You can see the details here. There is something soothing about watching and caring for these amazing little creatures. Sometimes problems arise that make it challenging and frustrating, but it is always fascinating. They are such an example of working for the good of the "family." Everybody has a job and they go about it from dawn til dusk. No wonder we have the expression, "busy little bees."

Thinking about Rocks and Bees

I saw a quote today on a wetlands trail at a nature center. "If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song." Since Carl Perkins was a songwriter known as the "King of Rockabilly" I'm presuming the quote is from one of his songs. I'd love to listen to it. Anybody know where it comes from?

The quote got me thinking about the "rocks" in my life -- you know -- those things we may think of as stumbling blocks. We may be tempted to curse them when we stub our toes or trip on them.

But there's another way to look at rocks. Did you ever climb to a rocky high place to get a great view? Did you ever sit on a rock to rest or walk across the big flat rocks in a creek so your feet wouldn't get wet or just stare in stunned awe at a rock formation that reflects the glory of God?

Something Beautiful for God: Monks Singing Gregorian Chant

Isn't this a little bit of heaven here on earth? It puts you in touch with the eternal.

I actually feel a little monastic today because we've been playing with our bees and many monasteries keep bees. In fact, during the Middle Ages, many monks made mead, a drink brewed from honey If you want to get a feel for our little beekeeping operation check out the bee page at Camp Kreitzer and my latest post on bee managment. Maybe when the honey harvest is complete we'll try our hand at making some mead.

The Beekeepers' Lament

My husband and I are beekeepers. We have three hives of Russian bees. Last year, our first year in fact, we expected to get no honey from our two hives because the bees had so much work to do. You put wooden frames in the bee boxes (called supers) filled with wax foundation that is like a blueprint. The bees "draw out" the cells on the foundation with wax and use them to store nectar and pollen and for the nest cells for the bee brood.  Check it out on the right.

Last year one of our hives surprised us by working so hard that we were able to harvest twenty pounds of honey, a real coup for our first year. This year, we were able to divide our hives and get a third "nucleus hive" and expected we would easily harvest 80 pounds of honey since the frames were mostly drawn and ready to be filled. 

A Russian bee on our marigolds with a full pollen pocket

Well, today is the group honey harvest and we checked out our three hives yesterday. A frame needs to be 90% filled with capped honey in order to harvest. (The bees cap the honey with wax when it's the right moisture content. It prevents the honey from fermenting after it's harvested.) Yikes! Not one frame of 90% capped honey. Lots of nectar, lots of brood, but no honey ready for harvesting. I am complaining today to the patrons of beekeepers, St. Ambrose and St. Valentine. They helped us earlier in the season when we were having queen problems. Maybe they will get in the hives and give those bees a pep talk. We still hope to get a little honey before the end of the summer, but it isn't looking good. My husband says Putin probably sent a message to all the Russian bees to go on strike in retaliation for sanctions against Russia.

Maybe next year we'll add some Italian bees to our bee yard. Hmmm...I wonder if a little opera would help. La Traviata for the Italians; Boris Godunov for the Russians.